Mortgage approval levels rise

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The number of mortgage applications successfully approved increased during March, according to new figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

A total of 58,905 mortgages were approved across all mortgage types, at an overall value of £7.6 billion, up from £7.2 billion in February 2013.

House purchase mortgage applications accounted for the largest volume of approvals, with 31,227 loans issued in March, up from 30,579 in February, whilst the largest monthly increase occurred within the remortgage market, with 18,637 approvals compared with 16,543 the previous month.

Volumes of personal savings deposits showed signs of improvement however, suggesting UK households are favouring saving over further credit in the current economic climate. Total deposits rose by 5.8% in the twelve months to March.

Commenting on the findings, David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, said: "Economic uncertainty and subdued confidence continues to determine borrowing behaviour, with households and businesses reducing borrowing and building up deposits where possible."

On 31 December, phase two of the Help to Buy initiative will be withdrawn from the market. It’s certainly done wonders for the high loan-to-value sector, so we thought we’d take a closer look at the significance of the scheme and the effect it’s had.